Working families would save up to £12,225 per year under tax cuts and a childcare expansion proposed by the Scottish Conservatives.
The party yesterday unveiled a series of measures to help families cope with the soaring cost of living.
The manifesto pledges include reductions in income tax, a council tax rebate, support with energy bills and free childcare for every working parent of children under the age of three.
An expansion of childcare support has also been promised by Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats – but did not get a mention in Reform UK’s Holyrood manifesto, which was launched last month by the party’s Scotland leader Malcolm Offord.
At a campaign event in Edinburgh yesterday, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: ‘Hard-working Scottish families are now getting hit from both sides. They’ve got high-tax Left-wing governments with the SNP in Edinburgh and Labour in London, and all these parties know what to do is increase the tax burden on hard workers and strivers.
‘We want to help them, we want to recognise that this is a cost-of-living election, and we are on the right side of the public on this.’
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay says his party will ensure families get help with the soaring cost of living
He said the reductions to ‘sky-high’ income tax rates will boost those ‘who set their alarm clocks and go out to work every single day’ and will help to ‘make work pay’.
Mr Findlay said tax cuts can be delivered quickly, and derided higher taxes under John Swinney as ‘economically illiterate’. He said higher taxation drags Scotland down, ‘makes us poorer, reduces public spending and disincentivises hard work and ambition’. The biggest individual saving is for families with a child under the age of three, who would be entitled to 30 hours of funded childcare, saving them an estimated £9,379 a year.
Two parents on the median full-time salary would also save £2,346 between them from a series of proposals on income tax, including increasing the tax-free personal allowance threshold in line with inflation and removing the 20p basic rate and 21p intermediate rate.
This would mean everyone would pay a 19p rate on earnings between around £13,000 and the higher rate threshold, which is currently £43,663.
The Tories also propose ending the tax gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK for middle earners over the next five years.
A further £200-a-year saving comes from Kemi Badenoch’s energy plan to remove VAT, the carbon tax and renewables subsidies, while the Scottish Tories want to provide an additional £100 energy bills discount using funding from leasing coastal waters to wind developers.
In addition, an annual council tax rebate would be provided to families from Scottish Government budget savings.
The pledges come ahead of Mr Findlay unveiling the Scottish Conservatives’ manifesto on Tuesday. Referring to the failure of Reform’s manifesto to mention childcare, Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ spokesman on education, said: ‘Childcare costs might not trouble millionaire Malcolm and his ilk, but for many parents across Scotland the cost of childcare is their main concern.
‘Any serious party would understand this and would include, in detail, what they will do to help parents and families deal with the cost of living, including paying for childcare, in their manifesto.’
He added: ‘Perhaps unsurprisingly, Reform have failed to do so and given yet another insight into just how unserious and unfit they are to serve in the Scottish parliament.’
